Friday 22nd November 2019



We travelled a mile down the canal to the winding hole beyond bridge 16 before returning and mooring again behind ‘Empire’, but facing the other way. Dave and Jill then went on their way to Aqueduct Marina. It had been good to see Dave again, we thought we had lost touch, and to meet Jill. And it was a bit upsetting to see them off. Hopefully it won’t be too long until we meet up again.

In the meantime, Kenny and Sue had been in touch to arrange a run into Chester and so we waited for them to travel out from Middlewich. Once they turned up, we again retraced our steps back towards Barbridge Junction, passing ‘Empire’ sitting outside the marina with Dave and Jill having lunch before their journey home.

At Cholmondeston Lock, we heard a 74-year-old man, single-handed on his boat, had fallen headfirst down the stone steps leading from the lock and had been taken to hospital. Dangerous places locks can be, especially when the sides and steps are wet and slippery.

At Barbridge we turned right this time, heading for Chester. It started to rain and the rain became progressively heavier as the day wore on. We moored just beyond Calveley Services and bridge 104 and were soaked by the time we had completed mooring. The towpath was a quagmire and very unpleasant.



Weather: a nice enough day until it rained, heavily, in the afternoon and throughout the night.



Day Total: 2 locks; 9 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Lift Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; Day’s running hours 3.6

Overall Total: 828 locks; 1429 miles; 53 tunnels; 61 Swing Bridges; 17 Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; total engine running hours 907.3




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